Some draft day history

Although most players aren’t household names coming out of high school or college, the annual June amateur draft is critical for baseball teams building for the future. The current Dodger roster, including starting pitchers Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw, reflects the recent success in terms of high draft choices eventually reaching the Major Leagues.

The 2008 roster featured four original Dodger draft choices who each played in at least 100 games – first baseman James Loney (161 games), outfielder Matt Kemp (155), catcher Russell Martin (155) and infielder Blake DeWitt (117). The last time the Dodgers had as many original draft choices to play in at least 100 games in the same season (and not appearing in their second tenure with the Dodgers like Tom Goodwin, Jose Vizcaino, Dave Hansen and Eric Young) was the 1988 team with second baseman Steve Sax (160), outfielder Mike Marshall (144), catcher Mike Scioscia (130), shortstop Dave Anderson (116) and third baseman Jeff Hamilton (111).

Relief pitcher Jonathan Broxton has a chance to become the first Dodger in Los Angeles history to lead the team in saves for one season after being selected by the organization as a high school pitcher. The only other single-season saves leaders drafted by the Dodgers as pitchers were Steve Howe (University of Michigan) and Tom Niedenfuer (Washington State University). Charlie Hough, who led the Dodgers in saves in 1976 and 1977, was originally selected in 1966 by the Dodgers as third baseman out of Hialeah (FL) High School and he switched to pitching at the suggestion of his minor league manager, Tommy Lasorda.

Ouch dumb hitting park making players good someone posted this on the main dodgers message board. Hector Luna’s playing very well in Albuquerque. .354 BA, 9 Doubles, 3 Triples, 10 HRs and 40 RBIs.

Twice chosen in Rule 5 drafts. He has played all the infield and outfield positions in limited time in the major leagues for St. Louis, Cleveland and Toronto compiling a lifetime average of .270 in 703 at bats. Not a lot of power, only 11 HRs, but this guy looks like he could be a super-sub…if only he hit left-handed.

From rotoworld……..
“Many people were quick to write off Andy LaRoche when he got off to a bad start in the majors, batting just .184/.288/.272 in 111 games between the Dodgers and Pirates. However, as awful as those early numbers were LaRoche’s track record in the minors predicted long-term success and sure enough he finally appears to have gotten on track at the age of 25.

Pittsburgh showed patience when LaRoche started the season 2-for-22 and he’s responded by going 47-for-139 (.338) with 16 extra-base hits in 40 games since, giving him a nice .304/.374/.435 mark overall. LaRoche may never develop more than 20-homer pop, but he’s hitting for a nice batting average, getting on base at a good clip, and playing solid defense just like his minor-league stats predicted.”http://www.rotoworld.com/content/features/column.aspx?sport=MLB&columnid=13&articleid=32862

I know many of the posters here were (and are) Andy LaRoche fans and hated to see him go.

Good morning ITD boys and girls!
Okay, I still can’t stay long again this time, but had to chime in. I was watching last night’s game and I think that Andre’s toe is bothering him a lot more than he’s letting on. If that’s the case, put him on the DL so he can heal properly. Martin shouldn’t hit above the 7th spot. Switching Martin and Kemp would be ideal; and would still keep Joe’s pet L – R – L – R lineup intact. But as far as Kemp, Loney and Ethier (forgetting a possible lingering toe injury) are concerned; I still think that they’ll become the hitters that we know that they are capable of.

But as soon as I say that, I read on the homepage that Ausmus is catching tonight. I think that Martin is trade bait. My husband and I saw Ausmus catching Kersh a while back (ya know, the one where Kersh flirted with a no-no against the Fish?) Well, we both think that Ausmus should ALWAYS catch Kersh. Ausmus was calling for a lot of changeups, and as we all know, Kersh was dealing like nothing else during that game. I think the vet Ausmus catching the kid Kersh would do wonders for Kersh’s progression.

I think the only way that they could afford to put Dre on the DL would be to move Blake to right and recall DeWitt to play third. Now’s the time to do it though while they’ve got a big lead and before any stretch run.

I’m quite glad for Andy. At one time we had a lot of hope for him. I don’t know how much the hand injury affected his possibilities with the Dodgers. Of course, he is a reason that we have Manny, so draw your own conclusions on that outcome. I’m satisfied with what Blake has shown us so far, and hopefully he can be a reasonable answer for 3rd base for another year or two – we have him signed for another two years. DeWitt had his chance and really did not produce after the initial month or two, and he isn’t showing much in the minors. If anybody would give us something of value, I would trade him at this point.

Dodgers had a guy named Edwin Jackson, too, who’s finally pitching like predicted. Moral? PATIENCE. Stay with kids and don’t even think about trading Kershaw…for anybody! As for Peavy……….he’d be perfect with Stan Conte, an arm injury just waiting to recur. Sorry, I’ll pass on the punk.

As far as the All-Star game, what with the Cubs’ ballot-stuffing Mr. .246 Soriano as one of the three leading outfielders, I truly hope by July 15 the Dodgers lead all of baseball in wins–and place NO STARTERS on the team…just as it sits right now!! Then it will up to the Dodgers to win a best of seven series in the home-field advantaged American League park.

eric, thanks for the andy article.. i was always an andy supporter and i’m glad to see he’s doing well..

cpompe, you wrote that you think that martin is trade bait.. and i really don’t think you could be serious.. clearly, russ has been struggling.. but it’s too soon to give up on the guy.. ausmus is not an everyday catcher anymore.. and if they trade russ, who’s supposed to catch? it wasn’t too long ago that everyone was calling russ captain, and singing his praises daily.. let’s just all hope that he busts out sooner than later :)

Hello, hello, is this thing on? It looked like Ethier was grimacing after his slow run down to first base after the wild pitch / third strike. I think his toe is really bothering him. Just take the toenail completely off, take a few days off, then go back in and play. Don’t need a toenail to play rf.

I completely agree with you, Sara. Both Russell and Andre will be fine and I would not even think of trading either one of them, or any of the young guys. They are in first place when all is said and done and they’re lucky that when a few guys are struggling, other guys pick them up. Pierre and Blake are hot right now and oth

Sorry, I hit submit before I was done. Forgot to mention Kemp is hot now too. I was just going to say that others will get hot down the road. That’s what makes a championship team, which I think they have the potential to be this year.

yup bluecrewgirl.. we’re a deep team, and we’ve had other guys step up.. imagine, raffy and russell have been bad all year.. kemp and ethier have been hot and cold.. kuroda’s been injured.. we all know about manny.. and yet we still have the best record..

Sara & Bluecrewgirl ~ If others were reading our blog, they would think, with all of the complaining, that we were in last place, not first! I also think the hitting will come around and our team will be fine.

Yeah, we have some guys scuffling right now, but as they say, this is too small of a sampling. I’m like some of the others as the the lack of offense does concern me, but this little dry spell has only been a couple of days. As far as trading Martin, I’d do it if we could get Mickey Mantle, but I don’t think he’s available.

BCG, as you said “the bench has been great”. The following compares this year’s BA/OBP/OPS to career numbers:
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Ausmus 344/400/775 vs. 252/325/670
Castro 341/400/855 vs. 230/334/604
Loretta 293/414/759 vs. 297/362/760
Pierre 382/444/944 vs. 302/349/723
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Definitely, the bench has picked up some of the slack so far this year. It would be great if some of those in the starting lineup would pick up some slack in June (Martin, Ethier, Furcal in particular). It’ll likely happen. Baseball often follows the law of reversion to the mean.

Hiya Everybody,
Let’s get to work on the D’Backs
We got to beat up on the little guys.
Dan Haren, Who’s he?
Last night’s game was one for the books, imagine tying a Dodger record set in 1918.
That’s 20 years before even I was born.
I don’t know about anybody else but it didn’t seem like a lot of wild pitches to me.
Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
We got an 8 game lead so we should be in first place for a while, relax.
GO BLUE.

I can’t stay around to get into a big discussion but in a way there is nothing wrong with some of the critical conversations even though the team is doing well. Let’s face it: we did not really know what to expect from the pitching and we were all pretty down when the Manny thing happened. Who expected JP to do what he is doing and who really expects him to continue doing it? We expected the bench to be better but who really expected it to be this good. I don’t think it is too off base to wonder about Martin, especially since he changed his off season conditioning to address fatigue. He should be stronger in my mind. We all want to believe Ethier can do much better than he is doing and we really don’t want to believe his performance has anything to do with that suspended guy not being around but Ethier has to produce. Obviously management believed the team would be much better with Manny than without and is hoping no one notices he has been gone or why when he does come back. To sum up, Dodger fans, and especially those on this blog have high expectations for this team and don’t want to see the team slide. On a positive note, the Dodgers have avoided any long losing streaks and seem to be in most games. They have played decent defense and have not given too many games away. Anyway, enjoy the game and let’s hope Andre snaps out of his slump tonight.

So, I’m a little jealous today! My brother calls me and lets me know that he and his wife were invited with some other couples to a SUITE at the stadium! Man, I would kill to do that!!! And he isn’t really a baseball fan! He wishes the Dodgers well, but doesn’t keep up with them like I do! Arrrrggggghhhh!!

I’m not too sure this team is capable of scoring a run off Haren tonight. Another thing I find distressing of late – they’ve totally abandoned making the pitcher run up his pitch count. They all hack at anything now.

Just an aside, but I’m watching ESPN Baseball tonight with the volume off and listening to the Dodgers. They were showing highlights of the Marlins at home. They showed a home run and there was absolutely no one sitting in the outfield seats. When they panned around there was almost no one there. Those people don’t deserve a freaking team. And they’ve won 2 WS in the last 10 years. Geez!!!

Bluecrewgirl ~ they have always been a solid team. For the life of me, I don’t know why the fans don’t go watch them. However, until they were about to make the playoffs last year, nobody went to watch the Rays either. Maybe it has simnething to do with living in Florida!

mas tequila y cervezas, por favor!!!!!! What do you mean this isn’t Rosa’s Cantina????? What we need is more double shots instead of double posts…..jhall, you’re out there, right, buddy? o.k, 1…..2…..3….BASEBALL IS A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT!!!!!!!

Was really weird Tru. Had a buddy that lived there awhile. Went out once on a Memorial weekend and the place was practically abandoned. That was on the Gulf Coast though, maybe its different on the Atlantic side. I remember though, you couldn’t go outside in the day because of the humidity, and you couldn’t go out at night because of the bugs.

Enchanted, it’s funny how mosquitos eat some people up and leave others alone. We lived back East when I was a kid and my friends were always covered with bites during the summer, but I hardly ever got bitten.

that’s great bluecrew. I will be actually in San Bernardino this weekend for a gym meet. My little ones have a competition. Good times :) I hope we can stop in the Rivey for some food afterwards!
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hi nelly hi E.
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ok. this was shortlived. I’m off to watch the game from my bed. No mas computer.
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Good night gang. Take care. and GO Dodgers!!!

Good evening all.
Reading through some posts, I have to agree on how pathetic attendance is for the Marlins. Two time World Series Champs in their relatively short existence. Go figure. Alot believe it’s the got alot to do with the stadium. It’s not what you would call baseball friendly. Football does seem to rule in all of Florida.
For years, I actually believed that nobody lived in Florida but old people, and their parents, till I visited South Beach.

Don’t you think that your body chemistry and things like the soap you use attrack bugs?

By trublu4ever on June 2, 2009 8:49 PM
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Hey Wally!

When I was overseas, at first the bugs used to feast on me. Then I quit using after shave & cologne, used only safeguard soap, and made a diet adjustment. I stopped eating Bananas all together for a long time. I hardly ever got bitten after that. The drawback of the banana deal was a lack of potassium, which caused some major league cramping from dehydration in the oven like middle eastern heat. Started taking supplements, and all was well again.

Every morning at the park you could see him arrive.
He stands 6 foot 5, weighs 295.
Kind of broad at the shoulders with a strong right arm.
And everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big Jon.
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Big Jon
Big Jon
Big Bad Jon
Big Jon
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Nobody seemed to know where Jon called home
He just sits in the bullpen and waits for the phone.
He doesn’t say much, kind of quiet and shy
And if you speak at all, you’d just say hi to Big Jon.
Somebody said he came from Augusta, GA,
Where he learned to pitch; all the scouts said, “Hey!”
With fast balls and curves from a huge right hand,
Sent opposing batters to the promised land.
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Big Jon
Big Jon
Big bad Jon
Big Jon
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Then came that day at the bottom of the ninth,
Other team’s men on base and Joe started crying.
Dodger fans were praying, and hearts beat fast
and everybody thought they had breathed their last
cept’ Jon.
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Through the dust and the smoke of this man made hell,
walked a giant of a man that the Dodgers knew well.
Grabbed a fresh baseball and gave out with a groan,
and like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone, Big Jon
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Big Jon
Big Jon
Big Bad Jon
Big Jon
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And with all of his strength, he gave a mighty throw.
Then the batter yelled out, ‘Oh my God, no!’
With pitches so crafty, the batter dug his own grave
now there’s only one out left to get the save, Big Jon.
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With bat on his shoulder the hitter tried to stare him down
Then came that rumble from down in the ground
A trail of smoke . . . a fastball so fine
That batter knew it was the end of the line, by Big Jon.
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Big Jon
Big Jon
Big Bad Jon
Big Jon
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Now he’s saving games and making a name
All opposing batters he has tamed
And Dodger fans cheer when he throws the ball
At the end of each game he says “Fu Q, all!”
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Big Jon
Big Jon
Big Bad Jon
Big Jon.

AWESOME COME FROM BEHIND WIN!!!
Kind of feel a bit for Haren. He deserved the win. The bullpen blew it for him.
On second thought……………NOT!!!
I know it’s still early in the season, but this team is showing ALOT of resiliency.

Dodgereric nice post and Good To See Ya!!!!!
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GOOD NIGHT and GOD BLESS EVERYONE :-)
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It has been another wonderful evening :)
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GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXTRA EXTRA DODGERS SLAY THE DREADED DIAMONDBACKS!!! BIG GAME JAMES LONEY COMES TO THE AID OF HIS COUNTRYMEN WITH A HUGE TYING 3-RUN DOUBLE!! VETERAN CASEY “SUPERFLY” BLAKE WITH THE GAME WINNING SINGLE!!! BIG HOMERUN AND DOUBLE BY EVERYDAY DRE!!!! GUTTY 6 INNING PERFORMANCE BY RANDY WOLF WHO COULD’VE GIVEN UP AFTER THE GRAND SLAM BUT DIDN’T!!! JEFF WEAVER HOLDING THE LINE AND PICKING UP THE V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!! BASES LOADED WALK BY BATMAN HUDSON!!! MATT “THE HITMAN” KEMP STARTING OFF THE WINNING RALLY!!!!! AND JONATHAN BROXTON WITH THE SAVE!!! THIS IS 2009’S TEAM OF DESTINY!!!!

LOL!!!! no kidding bluecrewgirl. However, like we have been saying all day, that toe has got to hurt like hell, especially with cleats on. So, I just hope he is taking care of it because I rather him miss games now than later. It was very good to see him swing that bat well tonight. Even that last out was a great hit, and Oggie just made a great play.

Yes, he could have easily gone 3-4. Oggie is a good defensive player. I think as long as he keeps it well protected during games, he should be able to play through it. I hope they are having him put an antibiotic cream like Neosporin on it so it doesn’t get infected.

Goodnight Beav!!! Thanks for hanging in with us!!! On that note, I think I will rack it myself. Its been a gas as always. I think we proved that, win or lose, we’re gonna find a way to have some fun around here. That is what is important. Make lemonade when life deals you lemons.
Excelsior True Blue Believers!!!! Goodnight All!!!!! Catch you down the road.

It’s interesting that you can get those seats so cheap. I’ve always thought it was going to take a lot of eating to make that $40 pay. Not so, is it? That place would put me in a diabetic coma!!! LOL!!

Arsenic and Old Lace on AMC!!! Wish I didn’t have to hit the sack. Good night Mary Ellen!! And God Bless!

I’ll keep this short seeing as most are asleep and I’m going there myself as I type this.
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I had a game tonight & got home in the B8th w/2 outs & Kemp on 1st. Then the fun began. Great come from behind win.
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Even when we aren’t swinging the sticks all that great we are always in the game. That has changed from last year.
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The Bully who I know I rip on really showed up tonight. As did Dre!
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I missed most of the conversation earlier but will be around a little tomorrow and chime in.
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But seeing as Nelly keeps talking about Enchanted & his Kool Aid, this is in honor of that as well as it has some people riding horses so it reminded me of the 4 Horsemen.
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Enjoy…
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n69H0JwsGI&feature=related

Good Morning my Dodgers Faithfuls……great game last night!
ETHIER! ETHIER! ETHIER!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!
And to finish is up…..BLAKE!
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I’m glad Ethier is back. I did not get to see him when he did his homerun, but I did hear my husband screaming. I wa putting clothes away during a game. But I did see LONEY’S almost GRANDSLAM (BY INCHES) That was amazing!
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GOOOOOOO DODGERS!

Good morning all, what a great win!!! Thank the Lord that Haren went out, that BP is beatable. Wolf in my opinion was the key to the game. He struggled the 1st 2 innings and then was efficient as I have ever seen, 4 straight innings getting out of the inning using single digit pitches.

It was good to see Loney turn and square one up, I wouls love to see it a little more often…He does not need to hit 20 hrs as long as he gets 35 plus doubles…Great job James.

Broxton has proven that he is deserving of his role. I know alot of people had doubts but he has been as dominant non roider closer the Dodgers have ever had so far. Stay healthy Big Jon!!! Only 8 hits in 26 innings…amazing and leadoff hitters 0-22 against him!!!

This team is showing alot of maturity from, the young guys who did not panic when Manny went down. They had the confidence that they could perform and I think the last part of last year when Manny came over they realized they could do it.

Ramslove – Wolf was OK but I think that WOLF was getting single diget pitches because the balls were being hit during the 1st or 2nd pitch.
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Forgot to give my HOORAYS also to HUDSON, great catch. The one when he decided to join the fans….AWSOME!
Well the game had alot of great plays!

That is the beauty of pitching, to get the batter out in as few pitches as possible. Maddux was a master and hopefully our pitchers will learn that. Why I commend Wolf, he did not panic, he went out in the 3-6 innings and was masterful. He saved the BP and kept the Dbacks in check. The last thing we needed was to have to use the BP for 5-6 innings after Kurodo went 5 on Monday.

Our young guys seem to want to throw the ball as hard as possible and they use way too many pitches..Look at Doc Halladay (his last outing 132 pitches was an abberation) he is the best pitcher in BB and he normally goes 7-8 innng using 90-110 pitches. Our guys are at 100 in the 5th or 6th.

Good morning ITD boys and girls!
Oh, last night’s game was SOOOOOO exciting!!! It was weird. I was at the game, but when Andre was first up, I think I either took a brief glance down at my feet, or perhaps someone in front stood up, but I didn’t see Andre’s HR ball leave the bat. BUT I DEFINITELY HEARD IT!!! That sound was so loud!!! I looked up, couldn’t see where the ball went, but I saw the flashing lights and everyone else yelling and screaming, so I started yelling and screaming too!!! And on Andre’s double, I had a problem finding that ball too. Perhaps my eyes were playing tricks on me, but at first I didn’t see it bounce on the warning track, I saw the guy in RF stop in his tracks, so I thought it was another HR!!! But the replay clearly showed that it bounced into the seat for a GR double.

Andre – Welcome back from you slump!!! I was thinking as recently as yesterday that I thought his toe was bothering him more than he was letting on. After last night, no, I don’t it’s a problem anymore!!! Wolfy had a rough first 2 innings, but really settled down after that. But outside of Andre’s big hits, no I was more afraid of the lack of offense. And for the longest time, the only hits on the Dodgers’ side of the ledger were Andre’s 2, compared to Haren’s 3! But I’m thrilled that both James and Casey came through!!! Very exciting game indeed!!!

Sara – When I made my mention earlier that I thought that Russ could be trade bait, it wasn’t Martin so much that I wanted to get rid of – far from it. No, I was just looking at it from a needs point of view. We need another starter and reliever IMHO. And we all know that saying, “You have to give up somebody to get somebody.” I mean, if we wanted to trade everyone that we didn’t want (JP, Mota, etc), first of all, we wouldn’t get any takers. Secondly, even if some GM was stupid enough to accept our throwaways, we wouldn’t get much in return. But if you dangle a carrot like Martin in front of the right GM, he/she may take the bait. Do I WANT to see him traded? No. Do I WANT to see any of my young guns traded? No. But I was looking at our needs. I don’t know where we’d get a starting catcher, but I think Ausmus could hold his own, and we have Ellis and May in the minors just waiting to come up. Plus, with a 2-time All Star catcher (perhaps 3-time AS catcher for 2009), we definitely could get a GOOD pitcher; not another reclamation project.

But again, I am casting my wishes for a good pitcher upon Nedster, who has shown that he doesn’t have the wherewithal to know a good deal if it bit him in the a**.

RAM – Can you imagine KERSHAW in a couple of years? But yeah our young pitchers will learn alot. Wolf did keep the Dbacks on check and Brox rattled them out. And I thought the D-backs were going to be an easy win for us, they came prepare to play the NL Champs. I am glad that Wolf didn’t do much pitches. Our pitchers are getting tired and we need them ready for the second half. All teams will put all their effort to win. How many good pitchers are out there right now?

Good morning ITD! hope everyone is having a fabioulos day!
That was an awesome win last night!
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Digs,
So good meeting you and your wife! See you tonight and I’ll give you a little tour of the stadium since you won’t be attending the ITD tour.
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Since coming back from Chicago I’ve felt sick but I’ve been going to the games. My aunt told me “Eso es amor” “that is love” Yes, I love this team! I have not had a chance to post though. i need to catch up!
Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com/

Ramslover & CP ~ Great though provoking stuff! And, so early in the morning too! lol Have a great day and I can’t wait for tonight’s game to start!
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And, in the words of Dodgereric — NO LEAD WILL EVER BE SAFE, BUT WE WILL ALMOST NEVER BE OUT OF A GAME ETHIER!!!! Sorry, just had to put in a plug for Andre :)

Hey Tru, don’t EVER feel like you have to apologize for putting in a plug for Andre!!! :) I’m usually not so “thought provoking” especially early in the morning, but I read Sara’s comment and I wanted to clarify my views to her. I didn’t want her (or anyone else, for that matter) to misunderstand that my Russ comment doesn’t come from that I want to “get rid of him.” That’s all…

I’ve got some stuff to do around the house, so if I don’t get back before the game…
GO DODGERS!!!
GO BILLZ!!!

Not only have the Dodgers shredded the NL West (so far….knock on wood), but they’ve cost Clint Hurdle and Bob Melvin their jobs…and to think, these two mangers faced each other in the NLCS only two short years ago! If the Dodgers were having a typical mediocre year, neither of these guys would have been let go. Funny. Now I don’t mind Bud Black, but maybe the Dodgers can get Boche fired next!!!!!!!!!

EMMA- hope you are feeling better today…regardless of the unexpected rain & thunder.
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CPO – Well since Emma mentioned “Eso Es Amor”, I have one for you and should explain why you lost the ball when Ethier hit the HR & when he hit the double…”El Amor es Siego”…”LOVE IS BLIND”. Well I don’t know what is up with MARTIN, but he is not performing like last year. I’m glad that he is getting more time off and has a good person backing him up. But he needs to step it up. I don’t want him traded. NOT MY MARTIN. But I understand what you are saying. But right now I think the team needs to concentrate on PITCHING. We need our pitchers to get better to survive the 2nd half and play offs. MARTIN right now hasn’t caused big damage.

cpompe, yes, you have to give something to get something.. but you do that when you have an overstock at a position.. of which, catcher is NOT. you’d be trading away a perfectly good starting catcher to HOPE that you might get a good pitcher.. pitching is a definite need, but by trading away martin, you’d just be creating another need.. ausmus simply cannot hold his own as an everyday catcher.. he’s been good in spot duty, but he is too old to play everyday. i know people on this board were wondering why we even signed such an old catcher when russ plays everyday and ardoin was an alright backup.. just because he’s had decent numbers playing once a week doesn’t mean that he can keep those up and be better than russell.. sorry i just don’t see it

i don’t want people to think i’m just defending russell because i like the guy.. it’s not about that.. it’s the fact that he’s still an above average catcher.. his numbers of the past were highly irregular for an everyday catcher.. there really aren’t too many catchers.. and available catchers at that.. that would be doing better.. and keep in mind that his defensive numbers are still good.. his fielding percentage has to be up there in league leaders.. there’s just so much that’s important in your team’s catcher beyond offensive numbers.. trading russell is not an option at all.. and i truly do believe his offensive numbers will improve very soon..

RUSSELL is a TEAM PLAYER and he will do anything for the TEAM…he works very hard all time. And yes he is a catcher that is good at batting, catching and playing 3rd. IRREPLACEABLE! And I love him…LOL! My son really admires MARTIN (he loves playing Catcher for his t-ball team) so I have to cheer for my MARTIN.

rose, the article said he was getting booed on monday, when all those wild pitches were being thrown.. clearly 5 wild pitches is ugly, and russ should have handled some of them.. but they were scored as wild pitches and not passed balls for a reason.. the pitchers are at fault as well, not just russell..

That sucks! Well I just hope that he takes it as something he needs to work on “Wild Pitches” and improves or pays more attention. I don’t think that the booing was directed to him, but like they said it was directed to the situation. Thanks SARA!

Hi sara, hi rose! I’m just going to jump in quickly during my lunch to say that Russ can’t think those boos were directed at him. As you said sara, “they were scored as wild pitches and not passed balls for a reason”. And even if they WERE directed at him, anyone who would boo a catcher for not blocking something that is ruled a wild pitch has no idea what they’re talking about because they have obviously NEVER PLAYED THE POSITION AND SHOULD KEEP THEIR DAMNED MOUTH SHUT.

So, what they heard was therefore directed at all the free bases given by the PITCHER. I’m all about taking responsibility for your actions, but Russ – don’t be covering for your pitchers here. Let them own up to it. You do a pretty good job of blocking pitches.

Good afternoon ITD’ers!
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Sleeping till noon.. priceless!!!
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I hope all is well with everybody. I know I’m happy as I now have 3 days off after 9 straight. Woo Hoo!!!
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Okay as far as some of the conversation yesterday I enjoyed the comments and there were many great points.
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I agree that it’s time for some of the players to start performing better. They have regressed for the most part.
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Martin had a bad April but has improved during May. I think his BA was .330 for May. I agree that he often has bad ab’s. He does need to get over the pull happy/homer swing side of his brain. I love Russ as I really like how hard he plays. I think that is one of the things that makes him a good player. But also can be a flaw in his game. I think he is a pretty stubborn guy and probably hears the coaches say not to pull everything and swing at balls at his shoulders but when he gets his adrenaline rush he can’t help it. I’ve been the same type of player as I go all out and I’m pretty stubborn. Or at least used to be. I really think giving up on him at this time would be a mistake unless it was for Halliday.
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Loney has power it just needs to develop. On the Sunday night game they were talking about Torre & Mattingly and their coaching of Loney. Basically they were trying to get him to pull the ball a little more often so his power numbers would go up. But that he was a young hitter and his OP #’s were what he seemed to be more concerned about. That he was trying to go gap to gap and drive in runs.
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This was opposed to Kemp who has more power but is a little more of a free swinger. Kemp seems to be a bit of a streaker hitter. He’ll hit a few dingers in a week then nothing for 3 weeks. I love Kemp and enjoy watching him play. I think he will continue to improve but he is still young. I don’t think he is doing as good as he can but I think he will continue to develop.
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For the most part all the power #’s are down in baseball.
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As far as Dre is concerned he has obviously had his ups and more recently his downs. There could be many reasons to this. From his toe to the Manny mess. But all players are going to have slumps. It’s how long do they last & do they adjust. He seems as if he is adjusting these last few games I’ve seen. An example is He had been pulling off the low & away pitches. But his last few games he has been fouling them away or squaring up on them and pushing them away for line drives. This has been a good sign. & obviously last night was a great sign.
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The pitching has been decent but it would be great to see the SP’s get a little deeper into the games & safe the bully. Mota has been better which is nice to see. He still is scary & they probably won’t release him so we need to hope that he can continue to improve.
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As far as the coaching I think they do a good job & for one am sure they talk & coach the players. I’m sure they make their point to the players. Remember even though we have more access to the team these days, we aren’t in the dugout & clubhouse. It’s up to the players to translate that to the playing field. They are among the leaders both offensively and pitching wise so they must be doing something right.
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I keep saying that baseball is a loooong season. A month slump is a bummer but there are still 5 more months. Of all the sports, baseball is the one that requires the most patience.
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So I’m going to try to be patient and see how the rest of the season unfolds.
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I do think we are set up and should win the division. But I think we are in trouble when it comes to the playoffs because our pitching isn’t dominant. We do have some trading chips in the minors that could help with that.
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Go Blue!!!
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Bring the Ring to LA in 2009!!!!

Hello Sara, Eric, & Rose!
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Rose I know as a player in general you feel that if you don’t make a play that you can make it’s your fault. Last night in my game I had 2 plays that if I had made them would of been great plays. I didn’t make them so I felt it was my fault when the runs then scored. Mt team mates were like those were tough plays but I know I’ve made them in the past so I should make them now.

The “Maddux Factor” might be worth having Glavine around, but he’s coming off an arm/shoulder injury and hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors yet this year. They obviously won’t get rid of Mota, and I can’t see Glavine or Milton as a situational lefty so that you could option Leach. Just don’t see how they’d pull that one off Peru.

I’m thinking no to Glavine unless he’s going to be signed to be a coach.
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At this point in time, I’d rather have Pedro.
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& I don’t want him.
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I think a trade for Bedard would be nice if we can’t swing something for Halliday. I’m also not high on Peavy. I would stand pat a little longer to see what develops as teams fall out of the race or have financial concerns.

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